Set to open in 2014, the 450,000 square foot expansion was designed by families, for families and will feature all single-patient rooms. The topping out recognizes the safe and successful completion of the building’s steel infrastructure, and is an important milestone in the project.

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children Expansion Rendering

White beam signed by Nemours families and Associates

Current status of Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children Expansion.

Key Facts

In August 2011, Nemours kicked off a 450,000 sq ft expansion of the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. This $257M project was designed by families, for families and will create an environment that promotes healing and advances the quality of care provided at the Hospital.

Topping out ceremonies date back to the Scandinavian tradition of placing an evergreen tree on the top of a new building to symbolize growth and good luck.

The white beam, signed by Nemours employees, patients, families and others involved with the Expansion, was lifted in place with the “help” of a 4’ x 4’ hand crank that ceremony participants used to symbolically lift the beam to its highest point.

An evergreen tree decorated with the wishes and dreams of children from Nemours’ clinical practices in DE, PA, NJ and FL was attached to the beam. These sentiments, written on seed paper, will be planted around the hospital along with the evergreen and given the opportunity to grow and flourish.

Construction by the numbers:

Number of micropiles drilled into the bedrock to support the expansion = 1,003

"With this Topping Out ceremony, the evolution of Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children pays tribute to our legacy and prepares us for a future filled with promise as we seek to make our children the healthiest in the nation."

— David J. Bailey, MD, MBA, President & CEO, Nemours

"We have always viewed patient and family experience as a key component of the care and services we provide. Today we celebrate a new hospital designed by families, for families."

— Roy Proujansky, MD, Executive Vice President & COO, Nemours

"We are excited to celebrate this major milestone today with our valued partner Nemours, one of the leading, most-respected children’s hospitals in the country. As one of the top healthcare builders in the U.S., we always take extra pride in the work that we do with healthcare institutions because of the role they play in healing people and saving lives. We look forward to completing this project in the months to come."

Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours offers pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy and prevention programs to all families in the communities it serves.

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